Canon 430 EXII tutorial?

I have a 430EX II that I use with my Rebel and I know that I am not getting the most out of it. Right now when I use it, I switch the manual and go with the settings that will give me the best shot. I'm pretty sure that there are better ways to do it. Are there any tutorials or online references that can point me in the right direction?

Usually, it's more important to have knowledge about flash photography in general than a specific flash model. Once you know what can be done, and what you can do, then how to do it with your particular flash is either obvious or just a quick look in the user's guide away.

Try the IMPORTANT LINKS at the beginning of this forum first.

waylandcool wrote in post #15715577
I have a 430EX II that I use with my Rebel and I know that I am not getting the most out of it. Right now when I use it, I switch the manual and go with the settings that will give me the best shot. I'm pretty sure that there are better ways to do it. Are there any tutorials or online references that can point me in the right direction?

Here you go...

To use automatic flash.

Press the mode button until it says ETTL. Put your camera in Av or Tv mode. Take your photo. if the flash is too bright, press the ( button on the back. If it's too dark, press the ) button.

To use manual flash.

Put your camera in manual mode.
Set your shutter speed and aperture to properly expose the background.
Turn on your flash and press the mode button until it says M.
Adjust your flash power by using the ( or ) buttons on the back of the flash until you have the exposure you want.

Easy. I use manual mode 99% of the time.

Tiberius wrote in post #15717136
Press the mode button until it says ETTL. Put your camera in Av...

-1

With a dark background, in Av mode the camera will try to select a very long shutter speed to try to expose even a midnight sky to midlevel.

ETTL may properly expose the subject with the flash, but with that advice, most novices will be frustrated with the 2 second - 30 second exposures that Av mode with flash will give them.

Tutorials that are specific to the 430EXII will probably be more of a feature rundown rather than tutorials on how to get the best results using speedlights in general (any model).

The 430EXII has ETTL-II and High Speed Sync. It also has features for OPTICAL wireless triggering for "off-camera flash" which can be activated with the pop-up flash on your Rebel. This means that it has all the features necessary to learn the fundamentals that will be taught in any speedlight tutorial.

The only thing it doesn't have worth mentioning is built-in RADIO triggering, but you won't need that at this stage.

Using speedlights well is VERY situation dependent, so manuals won't get you any further than your camera manual teaches you to be a good photographer. Many of the fundamentals for getting good results from your flash actually apply to all lighting.

Good places for tutorials on lighting in general and specifically with speedlights can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com​/user/adoramaTV
http://www.youtube.com​/user/BHPhotoVideoProA​udio
http://www.youtube.com​/user/kelbymediagroup

There's literally hundreds of hours of tutorials amongst those channels, but you'll have to search through to find ones specific to lighting. If you're willing to invest the time it's all there. Experimentation based on what you learn there will also go a long way.

Good luck and have fun!

I have to agree with clarence here... I know [If I'm using a 430/580 flash in my hotshoe] I'm much more likely to set my flash to ETTL and my camera to manual mode.

That said, I try to shoot with off-camera flash as much as possible, in which case the flashes are in manual mode as well.

JordanH wrote in post #15718890
Tutorials that are specific to the 430EXII will probably be more of a feature rundown rather than tutorials on how to get the best results using speedlights in general (any model).

The 430EXII has ETTL-II and High Speed Sync. It also has features for OPTICAL wireless triggering for "off-camera flash" which can be activated with the pop-up flash on your Rebel. This means that it has all the features necessary to learn the fundamentals that will be taught in any speedlight tutorial.

The only thing it doesn't have worth mentioning is built-in RADIO triggering, but you won't need that at this stage.

Using speedlights well is VERY situation dependent, so manuals won't get you any further than your camera manual teaches you to be a good photographer. Many of the fundamentals for getting good results from your flash actually apply to all lighting.

Good places for tutorials on lighting in general and specifically with speedlights can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com​/user/adoramaTV
http://www.youtube.com​/user/BHPhotoVideoProA​udio
http://www.youtube.com​/user/kelbymediagroup

There's literally hundreds of hours of tutorials amongst those channels, but you'll have to search through to find ones specific to lighting. If you're willing to invest the time it's all there. Experimentation based on what you learn there will also go a long way.

Good luck and have fun!

I didn't think optical triggering was available via the XTi ?? I thought that capability started with the T3i (in the Rebel line)...

I'd start with Neil van Niekerk's Tangents blog/website. Once on-camera bouncing starts to pall, then hit David Hobby's Strobist blog.

drvnbysound wrote in post #15719179
I didn't think optical triggering was available via the XTi ?? I thought that capability started with the T3i (in the Rebel line)...

Hmm...

clarence wrote in post #15717388
-1

With a dark background, in Av mode the camera will try to select a very long shutter speed to try to expose even a midnight sky to midlevel.

ETTL may properly expose the subject with the flash, but with that advice, most novices will be frustrated with the 2 second - 30 second exposures that Av mode with flash will give them.

Ah, my bad.

Just goes to show how often I use ETTL, don't it?

I knew that one of either Av or Tv would try to balance the ambient. OP, use Tv, not Av.

Tiberius wrote in post #15720738
Ah, my bad.

Just goes to show how often I use ETTL, don't it?

I knew that one of either Av or Tv would try to balance the ambient. OP, use Tv, not Av.

You run into problems with Tv, when you want to control DOF yourself.

This is why I shoot with the camera in manual... using the aperture of my choosing to control DOF, and the shutter speed of my choosing to control the amount of ambient light I want to allow.

JordanH wrote in post #15718890
Tutorials that are specific to the 430EXII will probably be more of a feature rundown rather than tutorials on how to get the best results using speedlights in general (any model).

The 430EXII has ETTL-II and High Speed Sync. It also has features for OPTICAL wireless triggering for "off-camera flash" which can be activated with the pop-up flash on your Rebel. This means that it has all the features necessary to learn the fundamentals that will be taught in any speedlight tutorial.

The only thing it doesn't have worth mentioning is built-in RADIO triggering, but you won't need that at this stage.

Using speedlights well is VERY situation dependent, so manuals won't get you any further than your camera manual teaches you to be a good photographer. Many of the fundamentals for getting good results from your flash actually apply to all lighting.

Good places for tutorials on lighting in general and specifically with speedlights can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com​/user/adoramaTV
http://www.youtube.com​/user/BHPhotoVideoProA​udio
http://www.youtube.com​/user/kelbymediagroup

There's literally hundreds of hours of tutorials amongst those channels, but you'll have to search through to find ones specific to lighting. If you're willing to invest the time it's all there. Experimentation based on what you learn there will also go a long way.

Good luck and have fun!

I subscribed to those channels and I'll start looking through them. Thanks for the info.